Windham cruises past Maplewood

Bombers meet McDonald in district final

March 6, 2013

WARREN - Following a rough shooting performance in their previous game, the Windham Bombers wanted to get the bad taste out of their mouths.

Unfortunately for the Maplewood Rockets, they had to face the wrath of the Bombers.

Windham led from start to finish to beat the Rockets, 67-45, in a Division IV district semifinal matchup at Warren G. Harding High School. Overall, the Bombers shot 54.3 percent from the field.

"That was a rough performance for us," Knight said in reference to Windham's sectional final win over Mathews on Friday. "We were shakened up a little bit from the first half, only scoring 20 points. Tonight, we came out and really shot good - all five starters and even some guys off the bench really played good."

The Bombers (22-2) rattled off the game's first nine points and better their first half point total in the previous game before the first quarter ended.

Although Windham scored many of its points off of steals, especially early in the game, many of the baskets came off dribble penetration and dishing out to wide-open teammates all over the floor.

"I thought our guards did a good job of penetrating and kicking for people," Windham coach Marty Hill said. "We had a lot of open shots.

"Of course, it's a lot easier to shoot when you're ahead."

After being down 21 points at halftime, the Rockets (17-6) spent much of the second half keeping the Bombers from blowing the game completely open.

Maplewood coach Nathan Kish said the team rued letting the Bombers run over them at the start of the game.

"In a game like this, you have to come out, and you have to match the other team's confidence," Kish said. "They're a confident team, and I don't think we matched their confidence.

"Once you get down on a team that's probably one of the best teams in the area, if not the best team in the tournament, it's very difficult to come back."

Windham moves on to face McDonald in the Division IV district final at 7 p.m. Friday at Harding High School.